The Threat is Gone, the Enemy is Not
by Sixel
Summary: <html><head></head>After the destruction of Phaaze, the universe is saved from further Phazon corruption. But, the space pirates still want Samus dead. Thus is her most eminent threat now more than ever. After Samus had destroyed the very Phazon that had given her the power to kill the holder–Dark Samus–the pirates also had their very driving force taken from them...</html>


_ Samus Aran walked through the now familiar power doors of Phaaze. That was when she saw it. Her now galaxywide known "doppelgänger" was standing right there in the middle of the Genesis Chamber Samus had just cleared. "Why the fuck does _he_ have to be here?" She spat beneath her visor. That was when Dark Samus–or Metroid Prime, as he was originally referred to–took flight. When she saw him burst through the floor, she morphed and rolled out of the way, just barely avoiding the shots from Dark Samus. _

_ After this, Dark Samus began to absorb the energy from many of the Phazon crystals surrounding him. After Samus saw this initial move, she started panicking beneath her adapted Varia Suit. "Oh shit! Oh _shit_!" She cursed under her breath. "I knew that he was using and adapting Phazon, but I never knew he had the full fucking control of it!" She started firing at Dark Samus with Phazon Beam shots, but it appeared to be doing nothing against the constant absorbtion of Phazon. This was when Dark Samus decided to start taking the offense. _

_ Dark Samus fired off a few Phazon-Dark Beam shots, which took about 2 whole energy tanks. This left Samus with 10 energy tanks left. Samus tried morphing again, but the error message sprawled across her screen: "Morph Ball failure. Reduce Phazon levels to initiate auto-repair sequence." "Well that's nice!" Samus retorted to the AI sarcastically. "Reduce Phazon levels, huh? Is that what this is all about, Andrea? I'm on fucking _Phaaze_! It is purely Phazon, _Goddam_-" This was when Dark Samus had fired off a volley of Phazon shots. This left Samus at 2 energy tanks. "Aw, _shit_! Andrea! Why didn't you tell me?" Samus shouted, furious. "Samus, if you would have let me speak instead of cussing me out about the morph ball malfunction, I could have predicted his next move. But, you were too busy cussing at me that you weren't aware of your enemy's movements." Andrea retorted. _

_ Samus ignored the smartass remark from Andrea. She turned to Dark Samus, arm cannon at the ready, about to fire, when Dark Samus unloaded yet another volley of Phazon bolts at Samus. This dropped her suit armor levels to 2%, a more than critical state. If she took another hit, the impact from the shots–and Phaaze's harmful atmosphere–would kill her. Samus closed her eyes for a moment, remembering Rundas, and what Dark Samus had done to him, then Gandrayda, and even Ghor. Then she opened her eyes to find a nasty surprise. _

_ When she opened her eyes, Dark Samus was looming over her while charging, yet another, Phazon beam shot. Samus saw the beam fly forth from Dark Samus' arm cannon and-_

Samus awoke with a start; then sighed, as she realized that she was safe, in her ship, the Prime. She began to calm herself down, telling herself that she had killed Dark Samus, that she had won, and that Phaaze was gone, along with all Phazon. But, another threat still loomed, nearer to Samus. Although she was no longer doing business for the Galactic Federation, the Pirates still wanted her dead. This was her most eminent threat at the moment.

Even though Samus no longer worked for the Galactic Federation, she still like to help them as much as possible. This was the exact reason she was headed for Norion now. "Andrea, where and when will we be warping out of hyperspace?" Samus asked the AI.

"We will be warping out of hyperspace in approximately 10 standard Time Units, in the Korlandar region," Andrea replied.

"Okay, thank you Andrea. You are a great help," Samus complimented the AI. She was always so amazed at how easy it was to treat Andrea like a human. It was always hard to think of her as another Aurora Unit. Samus shivered. Those Aurora Untis creeped her out. Especially after the incident with the space pirates and unit 313.

"You are very welcome. Is there any more assistance I could provide?" Andrea offered.

"Actually, yes. Was there any transmissions received while I was in cryostasis?" Samus asked Andrea.

"Negative."

"Okay, thank you."

"We will be warping out of hyperspace in T-minus 5 minutes," Andrea reported.

Samus just sighed. This would be her first time seeing the Galactic Federation since the implosion of Phaaze. She pondered how many excited recruits would be on Norion, and also–how many PED soldiers that she worked with would be stationed there.

"Well, I may as well get ready for this..." Samus sighed. She pushed a button on the bracelet on her wrist, and an orange glow engulfed her. Then her orange and yellow Chozo Varia Suit materialized and engulfed her Zero Suit and body. She was now the orange warrior that everybody knew. Not the petty, parentless, Chozo-adopted child everybody saw before, but a truly strong young woman. Hell, Samus wasn't even out of her twenties!

"Warping out of hyperspace in T-minus 5, 4, 3, 2, 1." Andrea reported. Then Samus felt the sudden, yet familiar lurch of the ship warping out of hyperspace. She then took the flight controls. "I'll take it from here," Samus told Andrea.

"Okay," Andrea replied.

Then Samus put the blue planet of Norion right at the nose of the Prime. The ship cut through the atmosphere easily, and Samus was touched down on Norion's generator and defense facility before she knew it. Samus stepped onto the elevator, and it began moving down. Once the elevator touched the ground, she stepped off the platform.

That was when she saw an old friend.

"John?" Samus breathed. "Is that you?"


End file.
